GK Wien-Southeast

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The GK Vienna-Southeast was a back-to-back HVDC station linking the electric power grids of Austria and Hungary. It operated between 1993 and 1996.

The plant, built by Siemens AG, had a maximum power rating of 600 megawatts at an operating voltage of 142 kV. It was similar to the HVDC-back-to-back station in Etzenricht, likewise built by Siemens, in its technology. In contrast to the latter, the HVDC Vienna-Southeast was still used after 1995 and the synchronous interconnection of the Eastern and Western European electricity grids. Without it, since there was no country-wide 380 kV grid in Austria, regulation and power flow problems would have occurred if the two countries had been directly connected at that time. These problems were overcome in 1996 with start-up of frequency controlling means in the South Polish hard coal power stations, so that the GK Vienna Southeast became surplus only one year later in October 1996 and could be shut down. It is to be dismantled like the plant in Etzenricht and be rebuilt in Eastern Europe near the border of the CIS states. Up to this time (2004) most components are still at the original installation site.